OSMANIA UNIVERSITY Vs. V S MUTHURANGAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short question involved in these appeals is whether the age of superannuation of the non-teaching staff of the Osmania University should be raised to 60 years when the University has fixed the age of superannuation of the teaching staff of the University at 60 years. As the Osmania University authorities refused to raise the age of superannuation of the non-teaching staff to 60 years by implementing the mandate of maintaining uniformity in the conditions of service of all the salaried staff of the University under Section 38(1) of the Osmania University Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), a number of non-teaching staff of the University moved Andhra Pradesh High Court by filing writ petitions claiming the age of superannuation at 60 years. Such claim was allowed by learned single Judge and by the impugned judgment the Division Bench of the High Court has also upheld the claim of the writ petitioners that the age of superannuation of the non-teaching staff of the University will also be 60 years.

(2.) The learned Solicitor General, appearing for the Osmania University, has submitted that sub-section (1) of the Act has two distinct parts. The first part provides that unless otherwise provided, every salaried officer of the University shall be appointed under a written contract and the second part of sub-section (1) of Section 38 provides that conditions of service relating to such salaried officers of the University shall as far as possible, be uniform except in respect of salaries payable to them.

(3.) Mr. Solicitor General has contended that the University has a large number of employees both in the teaching and non-teaching departments. In each of such departments, there are different cadres having different pay structure. Since the employees belong to different cadres discharging different types of duties and responsibilities, it is inherently not practicable to lay down absolutely uniform service conditions even other than pay structure for such diverse cadres of teaching and non- teaching staff of the University. Keeping in view the felt need of some amount of flexibility in the service conditions of the various cadres in the teaching and non-teaching establishments, in sub-section (1) of Section 38 of the Act, it has been specifically indicated that the conditions of service of the employees of the University will be uniform as far as possible. Such expression clearly indicates that although by and large service conditions of the employees will be uniform, there may be occasions to have some difference in the conditions of service in order to meet different exigencies having bearing on the service conditions of the employees.